Abstract
This special issue on Environmental Justice in Latin America brings to light the troubling environmental issues that indigenous, peasants, citizens and affected peoples now face, and it presents important research that we hope will foster greater collaboration across the region in meeting these challenges.
Although awareness is growing about the detrimental effects of large-scale mining, water pollution, soil erosion, and the steady decline of indigenous communities suffering from the overwhelming influence of agribusiness, little is happening to better the situation. It is becoming more apparent that these communities are not just being stripped of their land and lifeline but also that hospitals and public health systems do not have the resources to treat those who have been exposed to harmful pesticides or who suffer from injuries related to new technologies and ways of life.
To generate academic and activist work lines and collaboration for environmental and rights defense, we present studies that not only deal with urgent environmental issues in Latin America at present but also contribute to the visualization of the critical forms of popular resistance. They are representative of what is happening in Latin America because we have a common reality on two sides. On one side is environmental injustice, which is this plundering and destruction of the environment and the rights of the people in the present as well as throughout history. On the other side are the actions that the communities are taking in self-defense and also a shared sense of environmental justice. Because of this common reality, the studies and concerns reflected in this issue are representative of what is happening all over Latin America.
Included in the issue are two articles regarding large-scale mining. Madrid Lara et al. present the community actions for the defense of the people's rights to protest against mining development. The people's actions pose a central issue: the right to self-determined development. Romero et al. present the case of transnational mega-mining projects and discusses the location of mining projects in Chilean northernmost regions that are increasingly located near ground resources and that overlap with nature conservation areas, biodiversity protection sites, and communal lands claimed by Aymaras, Atacameños, and Coya (indigenous peoples).
An article on water pollution by Fernández and Buitrón Cisneros from Ecuador points out that the country has not made any significant changes regarding water and sewer services through residential connections in the last two decades. The biggest problems are in rural areas. The authors show that proposal of water laws and the renegotiation of contracts with leasing companies do not meet constitutional regulations. In a similar vein, Larrain describes the Chilean aspect of water privatization and commodification through the 1980s. The Chilean Coordinadora de Defensa del Agua y la Vida (Water and Life Defense Coordinator) is fighting to recover water for the Chilean people as a common good under the public domain and setting a social and environmental justice agenda.
Bustamante and Medieu present the current struggle following the well-known Cochabamba's “Water War.” This involves not only basic water access but other social and environmental issues as well in the city's suburban communities.
Regarding native forest and woodland destruction, González et al. describe how native communities in Argentina struggle against agribusinesses and soyazation processes. Viveros, on behalf of the National Coordinator of Rural and Indigenous Women Workers (CONAMURI) in Paraguay, presents a testimony of their experience and major challenges regarding the promotion of an agrarian reform from the perspective of gender, social class, and ethnic group.
The final articles describe specific political action struggles, achievements, and problems. Firpo Porto synthesizes the creation and development of the Brazilian Network of Environmental Justice (RBJA, by its initials in Portuguese). The article emphasizes the mobilizing power of the environmental justice concept, its relationship with environment and inequality, and the specific alliances between movements, and academic, agricultural, and working groups in Brazil. Carrizo and Berger discuss the concept of environmental genocide as it relates to the affected groups of Barrio Ituzaingó Anexo, Córdoba, Argentina.
Finally, to give readers an idea of current activist efforts, two separate interviews present the voices of those who fight for environmental justice in Latin America. The first interview features Cleber Folgado, member of the Movement of Small Farmers and coordinator of the Permanent Campaign Against Agrotoxics, of Via Campesina, the International Peasant Movement. Folgado comments on fighting actions and perspectives in Brazil and on Via Campesina transnational standing, and strategies to fight for food sovereignty and against biodiversity patent processes. The second interview is with Gustavo Gomez, a federal prosecutor who specializes in environmental issues in Latin America. Mr. Gomez, unlike many public officials in Argentina, focuses his efforts on citizens' struggles and works alongside an active network of prosecutors committed to bettering the lives of indigenous communities in the region.
We want to express our gratitude to Environmental Justice for having honored us with the publication of this work. Editorial Board member David Rosner suggested that we embark upon this project, and Editor-in-Chief Sylvia Hood Washington has been extremely generous in her enthusiasm and commitment to see this special issue through. We are also grateful to Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers who funded the translations and to the reviewers whose careful attention to the manuscripts during the peer review process helped bring this issue to fruition.
We hope that the publication of the Environmental Justice in Latin America special issue will be an important contribution by creating greater awareness and fostering increased collaboration between environmental justice working groups, researchers, and regulators in the region to improve and protect the health and welfare of local populations.